The Voices of DCCNY s Membership: A Briefing on the Critical Issues

Transcription

1 The Voices of DCCNY s Membership: A Briefing on the Critical Issues PREPARED BY MAI MIKSIC, Senior Research Analyst JENNIFER MEYER, Research Assistant

2 The Day Care Council of New York would like to thank our members for responding to the survey. Photos of children courtesy of East Harlem Block Nursery

3 The Voices of DCCNY s Membership: A Briefing on the Critical Issues As the Day Care Council of New York celebrates its 70th anniversary and looks back on its long history of serving the non-profit community-based early childhood education sector, it is important to also examine the current salient policy issues facing child care providers. The transition of EarlyLearn from New York City s Administration for Children s Services (ACS) to the Department of Education (DOE) is a turning point for community-based child care providers. There is a great deal that is still unknown about which EarlyLearn policies will remain the same and what new changes the DOE will implement. In anticipation of these unknown changes, DCCNY examined child care policy issues that are most relevant to its membership. The survey was distributed to DCCNY members at the last Full Council meeting held in February The purpose of the survey was to examine policy issues affecting the viability of DCCNY s membership. Survey Results The results of the survey are organized by topic and are presented in the following order: I. Policy & Advocacy II. III. IV. Child Care Funding Child Care Capacity & Enrollment Staffing & Salaries V. Staff Education & Study Plans VI. VII. VIII. Facilities & Building Violations Benefits Health Care Insurance Benefits Pension Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org 1

4 BRONX MANHATTAN QUEENS STATEN ISLAND BROOKLYN Day Care Council of New York Members 2 Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org

5 Summary of Respondents How many DCCNY members participated? How many centers were represented? A total of 58 agencies responded to the survey, representing 157 child care centers. This was a response rate of 74% of our membership. These child care centers have the capacity to serve 10,550 children in total, with the average center serving 211 children. How long have these organizations been operating child care programs? The average responding organization has been operating child care centers for over 45 years. Where are their child care centers located? 35% Manhattan, 31.7% Brooklyn, 16.7% Bronx, 13.3% Queens, 3.3% Staten Island Who completed the survey? Because of the breadth of topics covered in this survey, many organizations had multiple members of their management staff fill out the survey. In total, 81 individuals completed the survey. Here is a breakdown of their job titles: JOB TITLE COUNT Executive Director 28 Education Director 22 Board Member 15 Program Director 3 Administrative Director 2 Chief Program Officer 2 Deputy Executive Director 1 Deputy Director of Early Childhood Education 1 Division Director 1 Director 1 Interim CEO 1 Vice President 1 Bookkeeper 1 Family Services Coordinator 1 Unknown 1 TOTAL 81 Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org 3

6 I. Policy & Advocacy The questions covered in this section on Policy and Advocacy will help shape the priorities and services that the Day Care Council of New York (DCCNY) provides its members and the greater early childhood education community. The survey asked respondents to rank policy issues in terms of importance and concerns. While asking both questions may seem redundant, management staff will be familiar with the differences between policies that shape the long-term viability of a child care program versus policies that touch on day-to-day operations. For example, Table 1 shows that DCCNY members ranked salary parity for all staff as being the most important policy issue. However, Table 2 shows that salary parity for just teachers and directors is ranked as the greatest concern. While all workers in nonprofit community-based organizations (CBOs) play an important role in operating a high-quality child care program, the direct competition for certified teachers and directors between nonprofit CBOs and the Department of Education (DOE) threatens the ability of child care programs to remain open. Certified teachers and directors not only perform their own job-related responsibilities but must also supervise teaching staff who are on study plans. Building on these issues, the survey also asked what compromises DCCNY members would be willing to make in order to achieve salary parity. While pension, health care, and salaries are equally vital to operating high quality programs, the results in Graph 1 reflects that DCCNY members are not willing to forgo pension benefits in exchange for salary parity. 4 Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org

7 II. Child Care Funding This section focused on examining the types of government funds that support DCCNY members child care programs. As noted, a majority of DCCNY members have EarlyLearn contracts, primarily child care programs (83.6%). There are approximately the same number of Head Start programs as dual programs, 25.5% and 29.1% respectively. About 60% of DCCNY members have direct Pre-K for All contracts with the City s Department of Education; and 12.7% of agencies have direct contracts with the federal government for a Head Start or Early Head Start program. Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org 5

8 III. Child Care Capacity & Enrollment While the DCCNY members who responded to the survey have the capacity to serve 10,550 children, many report having trouble filling all of their available seats. Approximately 80.4% of respondents reported having trouble filling slots in the past 12 months. Of those agencies who had trouble filling their seats, almost a third (27.6%) report having greater than 10% of their seats left unfilled. For those who are struggling to recruit, multiple strategies are used to find families to fill slots. Organizations are relying on more traditional methods of personal outreach and paper advertisements to advertise their programs; although, internet advertisements, outreach at public or charter school events, and getting referrals from City agencies are also used to recruit families. 6 Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org

9 IV. Staffing & Salaries This staffing and salaries section documents recruitment and retention of certified staff. Graph 1 shows that a majority of DCCNY members have had teacher vacancies in the past 12 months. Graph 2 shows that on average, teacher vacancies remain open for 3-6 months before being filled; however, 3.1% of the vacancies took 12 months or more to fill and 12.5% of positions were not filled at all. Results on director vacancies show somewhat different trends. Whereas most DCCNY members have had teacher vacancies in the past 12 months, most members have not had director vacancies (66%) during that same period of time. As graph 4 shows, director vacancies are more difficult to staff if an open position is not filled in the first six (6) months. In order to attract and retain qualified teachers and directors, DCCNY members need to be able to offer competitive salaries. Table 1 below shows what DCCNY members believe should be a competitive starting salary for a certified teacher or director. Based on responses from DCCNY members, the average competitive salary for a certified teacher should be $57,477. In contrast, the current salary for a certified teacher is only $46,920 as of December 31, The average competitive salary for a director should be $75,512. The current salary for a director is approximately $56,000 as of December 31, Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org 7

10 V. Staff Education & Study Plans While recruiting qualified staff may be difficult, DCCNY members also manage staff who are on study plans. Study plans, under Article 47, allow staff to remain employed while they complete coursework to satisfy the educational requirements for their positions. Organizations are required to register their staffs study plans with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). Anecdotally, many organizations have reported that they have trouble registering study plans. In addition, both DOHMH and child care directors have explained that there exist few to no guidelines on how to document study plans. As a result, it is unclear what type of documents or proof of educational progress is necessary for study plans to be officially accepted. Thus, there is a need for specific guidelines on how to submit study plans to DOHMH. Graph 1 shows it is common to have teachers who have less than a master s degree. This fact is reflected in Graph 2, which shows that many organizations have teaching staff on study plans. Graph 4 shows that most organizations do not have directors on study plans (n=33). 8 Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org

11 VI. Facilities and Building Violations This section examines the different types of buildings DCCNY members are located in and the types of building violations many have received. Forty-seven (47) DCCNY members answered questions about their buildings, representing a total of 117 buildings. It is important to note that a sponsoring board may have centers across multiple buildings. For example, a sponsoring board may own two buildings but have centers in three New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) facilities. Thus, Graph 1 will include DCCNY members that are counted multiple times across the three possible categories. Graph 1 shows how many agencies have centers located in three types of buildings: NYCHA, privately owned buildings (leases with a private landlord), and buildings that the organization owns. Graph 1 shows that: Many agencies have leases with private landlords (n=29). Many agencies have centers in NYCHA facilities (n=21). Very few agencies have centers in buildings that they own (n=8). Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org 9

12 VI. Facilities and Building Violations Building Code Violations Graph 2 examines code violations across different types of buildings. The survey asked whether or not DCCNY members had centers that had been cited for any type of violation in the past 12 months. Results show that centers located in NYCHA facilities were more frequently cited for building violations. Of the agencies that reported having centers in NYCHA facilities, 76.2% received some type of building violation in the past 12 months. More than half of the agencies (69%) with leases with private landlords had centers that were cited with a violation. Agencies that own their own buildings were less likely to be cited for a violation, with only 37.5% of agencies reporting that they received a citation for a violation in the past 12 months. Types of Building Violations In order to understand what types of violations DCCNY members are experiencing and which city agencies are issuing citations, we asked whether it was either DOHMH for violating Article 47 regulations, Department of Buildings (DOB), or the Fire Department for fire code violations. Graph 3 shows that the majority of citations were written by DOHMH for violating Article 47 regulations. 10 Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org

13 VII. Benefits - Health Care Insurance This section examines trends in health care insurance enrollment. As Graph 1 shows, many DCCNY members have staff that have opted out of the health care insurance provided through the most recent collective bargaining agreement. This data is corroborated by health care insurance enrollment data provided by the DC 1707/ DCCNY Welfare Fund. The data shows that approximately 50% of all staff have opted out of MetroPlus. The reasons for opting out of the health care insurance are shown in Graph 2. Approximately 93% of DCCNY members reported that the complaints were related to lack of health care provider choices. Complaints about the high costs of premiums and copays were also noted. Finally, some members have shared that staff are opting to enroll in Medicaid instead. Evidence in Graph 3 shows that some members know they have staff who have opted out of MetroPlus for Medicaid; however, graph 3 shows that 50% of the survey respondents were not sure if staff were opting out due to Medicaid. Taking into consideration the hourly wages and salaries in the current collective bargaining agreement, as well as the new minimum wage laws in New York City, it is possible for certain staff members to be eligible for Medicaid. However, eligibility is highly contingent upon the number of people in a family. This unknown factor makes it difficult to calculate the actual number of workers who would be eligible for Medicaid. Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org 11

14 VII. Benefits - Health Care Insurance Given the extent to which DC 1707 Local 205 workers are opting out of MetroPlus, the survey asked whether bringing back Emblem as a health insurance option would be a desirable, albeit perhaps a more costly, solution. Results in Graph 4 show that DCCNY members strongly favor the idea of offering Emblem as an additional health care insurance option. A second, perhaps more complex, policy solution would be to allow DCCNY Members who offer private health care insurance to their non-unionized staff be able to extend that benefit to their DC 1707 Local 205 child care staff. Many of these organizations are larger multi-social service organizations, such as the settlement houses. However, many smaller stand-alone child care programs cannot afford to offer separate health care insurance. 12 Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org

15 As a result, two questions were asked to determine which options are desirable: A) Does your organization offer private health care insurance to non-dc 1707 Local 205 employees? 36.8% of DCCNY members offer private health care insurance to their non-union employees 63.2% of DCCNY members do not offer any other health care insurance options to non-union employees. B) Should your unionized child care workers be able to sign up for their employers [non-union] private health care insurance plan? Most DCCNY members (71%) want their staff to have the option to opt out of MetroPlus and be able to enroll in their employer s private health care insurance plan(s). Of the total sample, 28.9% are employers who currently offer private health insurance to non-unionized staff and are in favor of this option. Of the total sample, 42.1% of the employers do not offer private health care insurance but would be in favor of this option. Out of the total sample, only 7.9% of DCCNY members who currently offer private health care insurance to non-union employees do not want to extend that benefit to their child care staff. Employers who currently do not offer private insurance to non-union staff, and also do not want others to have the option to enroll staff in employer-provided health care insurance, constituted 21.1% of the whole sample. Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org 13

16 VIII. Benefits Pension This section examines the knowledge and trends related to the retirement benefits provided through the Cultural Institutions Retirement System (CIRS). Most DCCNY members are aware of the CIRS pension, as shown in Graph 1. However, it is not universally known that other New York City cultural institutions are also in that pension fund, such as the Museum of Natural History, New York Botanical Gardens, Bronx Zoo, and many more (see Graph 2). It is important to consider that there are other organizations in the CIRS pension fund because of a current $62 million withdrawal liability. After EarlyLearn was launched in 2012, many child care centers closed because providers were not awarded a new contract with ACS. The exodus of child care workers created a withdrawal liability of $62 million, which threatens the stability of the pension fund for all organizations in the CIRS plan. Graph 3 shows that almost half (48.3%) of DCCNY members are not aware of this issue. After the survey informed DCCNY members of this withdrawal liability, 72.4% of respondents expressed concern for the pension s stability. DCCNY has been engaged in advocacy efforts with our colleagues at CIRS to resolve this issue with the City. Along with salary parity and health care insurance, the pension s stability is one of the greatest concerns. 14 Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org

17 The next set of questions on retirement benefits examined whether DCCNY members had staff who were aware of the pension benefit and whether they advertise the pension when hiring new staff. The purpose of these two questions was to inform hiring practices and retention of child care staff. Surprisingly, Graph 6 shows that only 55.2% of DCCNY members advertise the pension as a retirement benefit when recruiting new staff. Graph 7 shows that about 58.6% of DCCNY members know that their employees are aware of the retirement benefits. As DCCNY continues to advocate for stabilizing the pension on behalf of its members, it will evaluate increasing the number of workers as a way to maintain the CIRS pension benefit. Day Care Council of New York, Inc. Report July 2018 dccnyinc.org 15

18 The Day Care Council of New York would like to thank you again for your input on this report. We would love to hear from you if you have any feedback about this report. Please send comments to Andrea Anthony, Executive Director at DAY CARE COUNCIL OF NEW YORK was founded in 1948 to advocate for the continuation of child care programs that had enabled mothers to enter the workforce during World War II. The Day Care Council of New York continues to advocate for its membership of 91 nonprofit agencies that operate approximately 200 child care programs in New York City. These private nonprofit organizations are under contract with the Administration for Children s Services (ACS) to provide education and care to infants, toddlers, and young children aged 2.6 to 4 years old. The Council and its members are committed to programs and services that promote the sound growth and development of children and their families necessary for a healthy society Lexington Avenue, Suite 204 New York, NY dccnyinc.org

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20 2082 Lexington Avenue, Suite 204 New York, NY dccnyinc.org